The Ten Commandments Part 4

Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The third commandment forbids the use of God’s name in vain. To take God’s name in vain is to fail in the purpose for which man was created, to glorify and please the God. This commandment is violated perhaps more than any other in this age we live, both by believers and unbelievers.

We violate this commandment whenever we use God’s name as an exclamation or curse instead of an invocation of Him in Holiness. We also violate it whenever we call Him as a witness to our innocence when we are guilty.

The tenor of this whole commandment is the fear of the Lord. If we truly fear God then we will be jealous of His Name. Christ raised the bar for this commandment in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16). Not only should we not misuse the name of God but every word and deed should be to glorify that name. Paul wrote as a great indictment against the Jews of his day, that by their lives they caused God’s name to be blasphemed and dishonored rather than glorified (Rom. 2:17-29). The fact that the glory of God figured highly even in David’s cry for mercy in His fall shows our contemporary Christianity in an unfavorable light. His repentance and cry for restoration were more the outgrowth of a desire that God would be justified in His judgment of one who bore His name but walked contrary to Him than of a desire for personal salvation (See Psalm. 25:11; 40:2-3,10,16; 51:4, 13, 19).

The last way in which Christians often break the third commandment applies specifically to Pentecostal/Charismatic circles and is when we use the words “The Lord told me” as a cover for doing our own thing or in any other manner when God has not really spoken. To use His name as a stamp for our own agenda does not lend authority to it, because His authority only flows from His authorship. Everything which originates in Him will bear His authority and will be brought to pass. Anything that originates in us can never have His authority, no matter how good the idea may sound, or how much we pray for His blessing upon it, because it does not have His authorship. To Use His name for our own “prophecies” which we have devised, brings genuine prophecy into disrepute and makes the name of God a common and profane thing.

Let us bring glory and honor to His name!